There seems to be a notion that the sea lion and seal population is out of control; however, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as other experts from the Vancouver Aquarium, disagree. The population hovers around 105,000 individuals and has been stable since 1999. The sea lion population is one-third of that of the seal population. The experts say the population is in line with the historical population before the Europeans came to North America and began hunting them to near decimation.

So there is no validity to the perception that the population is growing out of control. The question that needs to be answered is who has the priority for eating the fish, humans or pinnipeds (seals, sea lions)?